Trump Attacks Reporter After Question  11/19 06:07

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- President Donald Trump denounced ABC News' Mary Bruce as a 
"terrible reporter" Tuesday and threatened the network's license to broadcast 
after she asked him three sharp questions at the White House.

   The network's chief White House correspondent was among reporters let into 
the Oval Office to question the president and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin 
Salman. She asked Trump whether it was appropriate for his family to be doing 
business in Saudi Arabia while he was president.

   Before he could answer, she directed a question to the Saudi leader: "Your 
Royal Highness, the U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the 
brutal murder of a journalist. 9/11 families are furious that you are here in 
the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you? And the same to you, Mr. 
President."

   After asking Bruce who she worked for, Trump called ABC "fake news" and 
defended his family's business operations in Saudi Arabia.

   The president dismissed the U.S. intelligence findings that the prince 
likely had some culpability in the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist 
Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi kingdom. He said "a lot of people didn't 
like" Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen and a Virginia resident.

   For his part, Prince Mohammed said Khashoggi's death was painful and "a huge 
mistake."

   Trump later criticized Bruce for asking the prince a "horrible, 
insubordinate and just a terrible question." He laced into her after a third 
query, about why the White House is waiting for congressional action to release 
more details about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's correspondence. "Why not just 
do it now?" Bruce asked.

   "It's not the question that I mind," Trump said. "It's your attitude. I 
think you are a terrible reporter. It's the way you ask these questions."

   After addressing the Epstein question, he returned to Bruce, saying that 
"people are wise to your hoax."

   "I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so 
fake and it's so wrong," he said. "And we have a great (FCC) commissioner, the 
chairman, who should look at that because I think when you come in and you're 
97% negative to Trump. And then Trump wins the election in a landslide. That 
means, obviously, your news is not credible. And you're not credible as a 
reporter."

   ABC News had no comment Tuesday on Trump's statements, which referred to FCC 
Chairman Brendan Carr, who leads the federal agency responsible for licensing 
local broadcast stations.

   Meanwhile, Bloomberg News issued a comment on Trump referring to one of its 
reporters, Catherine Lucey, as "piggy" during a question-and-answer session 
last Friday on Air Force One.

   "Our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking 
questions without fear or favor," Bloomberg News said. "We remain focused on 
reporting issues of public interest fairly and accurately."